Open Arms
by ImJudyGarland
Summary: Can a sudden crisis be the potential for something new? Something amazing? One shot set during season one episode "Injured."


Nick should have been exhausted. He had essentially been up all night, the pills he got from Sadie achieving a side effect of calm introspection. Instead of feeling drowsy, he had a strange sense of clarity, and for once he felt safe to just sit on the beach and let his mind wander to places he normally didn't allow his brain to dwell.

He sat silently, his gaze moving from the ocean's waves to Jess, sleeping beside him on the sand. He was amazed to realize that this was the most content that he had ever felt at any moment in his life until now. His current health situation seemed to be giving him a new focus that he oddly didn't feel the need to question.

His life so far had been full of a lot of the usual. Growing up in a surburban town, high school, college. And then the after college so-now-what-am-I-gonna-do dilemma, which included a couple wrong turns. Career wise, aka law school, then in relationships, Caroline. Which had led him to where he was now, dumped and settled into a gotta-eat-gotta-pay-the-bills job as bartender.

But for some reason, resting his tired bones on a beach next to this quirky, crazy, beautiful woman, none of that was bothering him just now. They had spent the evening talking. Not about anything important. They seemed to have switched roles, Nick letting every thought in his head tumble out in an easy flow. Jess watched him, not letting on how rare she knew this was, this glimpse into the psyche of Nick Miller. It was not something that just anyone was privy to.

He was glad she was there. He wanted here there. And he told her so, her face barely registering the quiet delight at his honest admission of how much he really liked her. For the next hour or two, they just sat together talking, their arms pressed up against each other. Jess had casually slipped her arm through his, leaning almost close enough to rest her head against his shoulder. Almost.

Eventually Nick had given her his jacket as a pillow and she had drifted off. He sat now listening as her breathing blended with the sound of the waves. And he didn't want to leave this place. As he watched the sun begin to appear in the distance, he still didn't move. Honestly, time and space and every damn thing on earth could freakin shut down, and he would be fine with that.

But he knew he had to face the day. So they had got up and gone. And when the doctor told him he was in the clear, he wasn't surprised. This charmed atmosphere surrounding him was far far away from the usual Nick Miller luck, but he took it at face value.

As they rode the elevator up to 4D, fatigue finally began to set in. Nick was keenly aware of the glances Jess kept throwing his way. Almost like she was afraid that it had all been a mistake, and he wasn't alright after all. He gave her a reassuring smile. She smiled back.

"Think I'm heading to bed. Hey guys, thanks again. For everything." As he turned toward his door, he felt a hand in his shoulder.

"Hey Nick? Just wanna say...thanks. For last night." Jess smiled shyly, and Nick had to look away, looking down and grinning. _Damn, she was sweet._

"Yeah, it was...nice. Well, anytime you wanna pop some menstrual pills and hang on the beach, I'm in." They laughed softly.

Jess moved slowly toward him, slipping her arms around his middle and laid her cheek against his chest. "I'm so glad you're alright."

Nick tensed up at first, then let himself relax into her embrace, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. He breathed in slow and deep, the ocean scent mixing with her usual coconut shampoo.

They stayed that way for several minutes. Kept holding each other. It felt too good not to. Too good to just let go of that fast. After what seemed way too soon, they began to unwrap from each other's arms. Jess looked up into his eyes, her own full of unshed tears. Nick smiled and reached up, catching a stray one as it fell onto his finger, and he brushed it away.

"I'm okay, Jess. Everything's alright now. Okay?" He ducked his head a little to make it even with hers. She gave him a wobbly smile. "Okay."

After last night, there seemed to be something new between them. A knowledge that they were way more connected than either of them had known before.

"Okay. I'm gonna get some sleep." He started for his room again.

"Nick?" Jess looked unsure of herself. Something had a hold of her, and it just wouldn't let go. "Would you mind if I...uh...would it be okay if I slept in your room? Is that weird? I don't know, I just...I need to be near my friend right now."

He stared at her for several seconds. His body pulsed, begging him to say yes. His brain screamed at him to say no, for his sanity's sake. His common sense was not winning this one.

"Uh, sure, Jess." Motioning her inside, he closed the door behind them. He climbed up on his bed, pulling the covers down, inviting her in. Jess moved up onto the mattress next to Nick. He reached down and grabbed his comforter, bringing it up over their bodies.

Jess lay on her back, her head on his mismatched pillow, and tentatively looked into his eyes. Nick leaned over her on his side. He couldn't help himself. He stroked her cheek with his fingers until she smiled. He watched her lips, wanting so badly to touch them. The heat he felt radiating from her warm body was coaxing him to do things his mind had wandered over only when he was here alone.

"I don't know what I would have done...what I would do without you." Jess whispered, a pained expression clouding her face.

That was all Nick needed. He moved his lips down quickly onto hers, then slowed himself, kissing her with all the pent up emotion he had felt since the day he met her. Since the moment she walked in the door. She responded with equal fervor, sliding her hands up his chest and resting them on his shoulders.

When the kiss broke, they immediately fell into an intense hug. Nick's arms circling her as Jess clutched his back desperately with hers. Nick whispered in her ear, the yearning raw in his voice. "I want this. I want you."

Jess let out a low whimper. "Nick...I want this too. I want you."

They spent the morning in his bed, their bodies moving together in an urgent rhythm under his covers, their passionate cries muffled against each other's skin. When they were finally both sated and spent, Jess lay quietly in Nick's arms. He felt her calm, the way she took comfort from the steady beat of his heart as she rested her head on his chest.

As he drifted into sleep, he knew. This was definitely the start of something amazing. And he was all in.


End file.
